What Are My Chances To Get Interview?

[aagg]

Hi,

 

I am an Alberta resident, currently finishing up my 4th year and plan to graduate after this semester. My GPA for the following years have been:

 

3.3 (9 courses)

3.5 (10 courses)
4.0 (8 courses)

4.0 (8 courses)

 

I have not written my MCAT yet. Assuming that my MCAT and extracurriculars are competitive, do I have a chance of getting an interview at Calgary (or any) Medical School? I keep assuming that my first 2 years are holding me back. Can someone shed some light on this? 

 

Thanks

[Lancia Stratos]

So I think your GPA would be considered 3.83 as your first year would get dropped. Thats a good GPA, it won't hold you back from getting an interview.

 

However, the MCAT and especially the extracurriculars are really going to determine if you get an interview. EC's account for 60% of your pre-MMi score, so your ECs (and how you portray / write about them) are really going to be the determinant for getting an interview or not. 

[daftjustice]

 

 

However, the MCAT and especially the extracurriculars are really going to determine if you get an interview. EC's account for 60% of your pre-MMi score, so your ECs (and how you portray / write about them) are really going to be the determinant for getting an interview or not. 

^This could not be overstated.

 

Your GPA is good. Especially for U of C. Upward trend and all that. Just make sure that you got enough credits in your last two years. (Lol much better than my GPA).

 

Now, regarding the ECs. This is arguably the most important part. How you write these is a game changer. I went from 40th percentile overall in my first application for ECs to 88th and 90th percentile two years in a row, with the SAME activities in all three years. 

 

What I'd recommend doing is downloading the CanMEDs competencies and reading over them thoroughly.

Reflect on your experiences and ECs and how they relate to the competencies - jot down notes and come up with examples.

 

Sure, their is evaluator bias, but you can control a decent amount of it. Leave no room for ambiguity. Each sentence needs to have a purpose. Write out your Top Ten experiences again and again, have med students look over it, have friends look over it, have as many people as possible. The purpose of these is not to wow people with your accomplishments (at least that was my failing in my application). The point is to convey how these experiences imparted a sense of morality, compassion, interpersonal skills, the importance of self-reflection and targeted improvement. You need to be genuine; people can smell BS a mile away. But don't shy away from selling yourself either.

Ideally, if anyone reading over your Top Ten experiences is willing to help, ask them if they can peruse the CanMEDs to get a sense of what you're trying to convey.

 

MCAT

Ace the MCAT. Seriously, go in and slap that test silly. It opens so many doors (think US backups too.) With a high enough MCAT score, IVY league schools will email you inviting you to apply (if you agree to release your score). For Canada, the CARS section is an absolute must. At the end of the day, that section is 95% mental, being in the zone and not second guessing yourself. Find your flow and stick to it. People say it all the time, but agonizing over each question will invariably tank a performance on this section. I'd be happy to offer more advice on this if you want (scored a 523, which isn't the highest score on these forums, but I think I could offer some tips)

Letters of Rec

Dr. Walker once said something along the lines of using these as 'supplemental Top Ten experiences" (I'm paraphrasing here, sorry Dr. Walker if you see this!). The letters of rec at U of C are a great way for you to further distinguish yourself. Again, the prestige of who writes them pales in comparison to what they can say about you. Choose them wisely. Obviously it it unethical to write your own reference letter (and have your referee just submit what you wrote). But I think it is ok to show them the CanMEDs competencies and maybe discuss general things you would like the letter to convey. For example: "Referee X, I think that as my supervisor/mentor/whatever, you are in an excellent position to comment on my commitment to X, as well as my attitude towards self-directed learning. If you think that you could write about this positively, then I would be grateful if you could write my application". Note that U of C has a somewhat standardized reference letter format, so you should take a peek at that and then see who you would choose as referees.

 

Forgive iPhone mistakes and hope you don't find this advice too unsolicited.

 

 

 

[RedVelvetRims]

^This could not be overstated.

 

Your GPA is good. Especially for U of C. Upward trend and all that. Just make sure that you got enough credits in your last two years. (Lol much better than my GPA).

 

Now, regarding the ECs. This is arguably the most important part. How you write these is a game changer. I went from 40th percentile overall in my first application for ECs to 88th and 90th percentile two years in a row, with the SAME activities in all three years. 

 

What I'd recommend doing is downloading the CanMEDs competencies and reading over them thoroughly.

Reflect on your experiences and ECs and how they relate to the competencies - jot down notes and come up with examples.

 

Sure, their is evaluator bias, but you can control a decent amount of it. Leave no room for ambiguity. Each sentence needs to have a purpose. Write out your Top Ten experiences again and again, have med students look over it, have friends look over it, have as many people as possible. The purpose of these is not to wow people with your accomplishments (at least that was my failing in my application). The point is to convey how these experiences imparted a sense of morality, compassion, interpersonal skills, the importance of self-reflection and targeted improvement. You need to be genuine; people can smell BS a mile away. But don't shy away from selling yourself either.

Ideally, if anyone reading over your Top Ten experiences is willing to help, ask them if they can peruse the CanMEDs to get a sense of what you're trying to convey.

 

MCAT

Ace the MCAT. Seriously, go in and slap that test silly. It opens so many doors (think US backups too.) With a high enough MCAT score, IVY league schools will email you inviting you to apply (if you agree to release your score). For Canada, the CARS section is an absolute must. At the end of the day, that section is 95% mental, being in the zone and not second guessing yourself. Find your flow and stick to it. People say it all the time, but agonizing over each question will invariably tank a performance on this section. I'd be happy to offer more advice on this if you want (scored a 523, which isn't the highest score on these forums, but I think I could offer some tips)

Letters of Rec

Dr. Walker once said something along the lines of using these as 'supplemental Top Ten experiences" (I'm paraphrasing here, sorry Dr. Walker if you see this!). The letters of rec at U of C are a great way for you to further distinguish yourself. Again, the prestige of who writes them pales in comparison to what they can say about you. Choose them wisely. Obviously it it unethical to write your own reference letter (and have your referee just submit what you wrote). But I think it is ok to show them the CanMEDs competencies and maybe discuss general things you would like the letter to convey. For example: "Referee X, I think that as my supervisor/mentor/whatever, you are in an excellent position to comment on my commitment to X, as well as my attitude towards self-directed learning. If you think that you could write about this positively, then I would be grateful if you could write my application". Note that U of C has a somewhat standardized reference letter format, so you should take a peek at that and then see who you would choose as referees.

 

Forgive iPhone mistakes and hope you don't find this advice too unsolicited.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, just wondering, did you have the same references for all three years of your applications?